Christ is the Treasure in You

Christ is the treasure in you

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
2 Corinthians 4:7

CHRIST IS THE TREASURE IN YOU


The verse tells us that we have “this treasure” in earthen vessels. Who is the treasure? Christ! Who are the earthen vessels here? You and I! Thank God the treasure is in the earthen vessels.

My friend, Christ the treasure is in you. So don’t get frustrated when you see your “earthiness.” You will always be “earthen” as long as you are in your mortal body, but remember that Christ the treasure is in you.

Should you lose your cool with your spouse or children, remember that Christ in you is your patience. When I feel impatient, I don’t pray, “Lord Jesus, give me patience…now!” No, I look to Jesus and I say, “Lord Jesus, I thank You that You are my patience.”

In my younger days and even when I first got married, I had a bad temper. I tried all sorts of anger management techniques, but I never got very far until I told God, “God, I am so frustrated trying to overcome my anger. I give up! I cannot. You can. I rest and depend on You.” Not too long after that, my wife commented, “You know, you have improved in the area of your temper.”

I thought about what she had said and realized that I was not even conscious of the change in me. When family members can see the patience of Christ manifesting through a naturally impatient person, God gets the glory.

Perhaps you are frustrated with your smoking and drinking habits. Or maybe you are discouraged by your feelings of jealousy, distrust, bitterness, depression, and defeat. Don’t condemn yourself for being earthen. Don’t try to “cast out” your earthiness. Just realize that you have Christ the treasure in you.

The more you see that treasure in you, the more Christ’s brilliance shines forth in you. And in the midst of your earthiness, God gets the glory as you yourself are transformed from glory to glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:18)!

-Joseph Prince

Just Trust God’s Goodness and Pray in the Spirit

Just trust God's goodness and pray in the spirit

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
1 Corinthians 14:14

JUST TRUST GOD’S GOODNESS AND PRAY IN THE SPIRIT


God has given us a powerful prayer gift—praying in tongues, which is not limited by distance, time or head knowledge. When you pray in tongues, you could be praying for your future or even a loved one overseas. You won’t know what you are praying unless God tells you. This is because your “understanding is unfruitful”—your mind is not involved.

“But Pastor Prince, I must know what I am praying!”

Sometimes, it is better not to know what you are praying. In 1993, I had a long season of praying in the Spirit. If I had known then everything that I was praying in tongues, I would have freaked out! For example, I would have been afraid if I had known that the Holy Spirit was saying, “Father God, in the year 2002, anoint Joseph Prince to preach six messages every week to more than 10,000 people.” That has come to pass. But back in 1993, one service was enough to tire me out!

So I thank God that I don’t know what I am praying when I pray in tongues. I simply trust His goodness and pray in tongues for everything that He has planned for me to come to pass in His perfect timing.

Beloved, don’t stop praying in tongues just because you don’t know what you are praying. You could be praying for the safety of a loved one in a life and death situation. Especially when you feel an urge to pray because you sense danger, pray! Pray until you sense a release as the burden is lifted. The Holy Spirit will know exactly what is going on, who is in danger and how to pray for deliverance (see Romans 8:27).

You may say, “Well, I can just pray in English.” You can, but your prayer will be very limited because you don’t know everything. It is better to pray in tongues because the Spirit knows all things.

My friend, you don’t belong to the natural, limited realm. You belong to God who is unlimited! So pray in tongues, and see great things happening for you and through you.

-Joseph Prince

You will have whatever you say

You will have whatever you say

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Mark 11:23

YOU WILL HAVE WHATEVER YOU SAY


God says that we will have whatever we say. So whatever we want to have, we can say it and have it. Unfortunately, we often say what we don’t want to have.

For example, we say, “I don’t know why I go through my money so fast every month. Even when my boss gives me an increment, there never seems to be enough money.” And true enough, we see a lack of money at the end of every month.

You see, you will have whatever you say, good or bad. So why not change what you have been saying to, “From now on, I will have more than enough because Jesus became poor at the cross, so that I might be financially supplied—2 Corinthians 8:9. So lack be gone in Jesus’ name!”

Whatever mountain of difficulty you have, be it a mountain of debt or serious health condition, Jesus says, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

Jesus highlights the importance of saying by mentioning the word “say” thrice, but the word “believe” only once. Our problem today is that there is more preaching on believing than saying. So the reason people find it hard to walk in faith is that they are not saying enough of the Word.

But if we would focus more on saying God’s Word, faith will come. That is how God quickened Abraham’s faith. He changed Abraham’s saying when He changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5). From then on, whenever Abraham introduced himself, he would say, “Hi, my name is Father Of Many Nations.”

Beloved, declare your abundance, saying, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Speak forth your healing, saying, “By Jesus’ stripes I am healed!” (see Isaiah 53:5). And you will have whatever you say!

-Joseph Prince

He is the God of your Valleys too

He is the God of your Valleys too

Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.
1 Kings 20:23

HE IS THE GOD OF YOUR VALLEYS TOO


In 1 Kings 20, we find the Syrians were defeated by the Israelites. Then, some of the Syrian king’s advisers gave the king what they thought was the reason for their defeat. They said that they had fought on the hills and lost because Israel’s God is the God of the hills. So if they were to fight the Israelites on the plains or in the valleys, they would win.

What stupid advice! They thought that the God of Israel only helped His people up in the hills and mountains, and not down in the valleys.

Now, mountains refer to our good times, and valleys, our bad times. Some people have this idea that God is the God of our good times, but He is not there when we are going through bad times. They think that He leaves us helpless in the valleys, especially when the troubles are of our own making.

My friend, I want you to know that our God is the God of the mountains, but He is also the God of the valleys!

God the Son laid aside His crown of glory, His royal majesty and came down for us, stepping into a human body as a baby. He came down to where we were for the sole purpose of dying on the cross for our sins so that He could bring us up to what God the Father has for us at His right hand. Jesus came down to crown us with glory and honor, to clothe us with robes of righteousness and make us His bride, sharing everything that He has with us. That is the grace of God. He came down to our valley.

So whatever you are going through right now, know that God is right there in your valley with you. He is holding you in His arms and carrying you through the valley. Victory is already yours. Just as the Israelites were also victorious in the valley (see 1 Kings 20:28–29), so will you be because the God of the valleys is right there with you!

-Joseph Prince

God has Seen Your Future and It is Good

God has seen your future and it is good

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.
Isaiah 54:2

GOD HAS SEEN YOUR FUTURE, AND IT IS GOOD!


At the end of 2004, during one of our services, the Lord told our church this: “I your God have gone ahead of you, and I have already been to your future. I have seen it. And I declare that it is good.”

Although this word was given through me to our church, I believe that it is not only for our church but also for every member of the body of Christ.

I tell you when God declares your future good; it will be good! It will be filled with many wonderfully good days!

So what do you do when the Lord tells you that you are going to have a good future loaded with His blessings? You prepare for it! In other words, before the blessings come, before the increase comes, He wants you to enlarge the place of your tent and stretch forth the curtains of your dwellings.

For example, if you believe God for a child, start reading books on babies and preparing the baby’s room. Prepare to have more than one child. Start looking for a bigger place for your family, for God says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.” Get ready for expansion!

My friend, God wants you to get ready, and expect such favor and increase in the days ahead that “you shall expand to the right and the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited” (Isaiah 54:3).

Because God has declared your future good, know that you stand on favor ground today. Expect good things to happen to you. Expect to see the favor of God on you and your family. Expect the blessings and increase of the Lord. Expect many good days to show up in your life!

-Joseph Prince

The Promise of the Father

The promise of the father

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER


Before Jesus went back to heaven, He told His disciples to “wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). There are thousands of promises in the Bible, so which promise was He referring to?

The early church knew which promise Jesus was referring to because He had told His disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father, which you have heard Me speak. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). Jesus was referring to the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues (see Acts 2:1–4).

Jesus wants you to know the value of the Promise of the Father because He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me…” He did not say, “You shall do witnessing,” but “You shall be witnesses.” In other words, your very person will be a witness to Him!

This is because the power you receive when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit is the same power that so anointed Peter that the sick were laid on the streets for his shadow to fall on them and heal them (see Acts 5:15). Even handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul’s body were so saturated with the anointing of the Spirit that when they touched the sick, people witnessed diseases and evil spirits leaving the sick (see Acts 19:12)!

That same power caused a Holy Spirit-baptized church member, who prayed in tongues, to experience God’s healing power when he laid hands on his mother, who was in an advanced stage of cancer. And because she was healed, she became a witness of the love and power of God to her friends and unbelieving relatives.

Beloved, when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you will be a witness to others that no problem, trial, disease, or sickness is a match for the power of the Spirit in you!

-Joseph Prince

Heir of the World Today

Heir of the world today

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Romans 4:13

HEIR OF THE WORLD TODAY


God promised Abraham that he would be the heir of the world. Now, don’t be too quick to say, “Well, that promise was made only to Abraham and not me.” The verse says, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” So the promise was not just made to Abraham, but to “his seed” as well, that is, you and I who belong to Christ—“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

Notice that God did not say that you would be the heir of the country you are living in, but heir of the world! The Greek word for “world” here is kosmos, which means the universe as well as the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, advantages and pleasures. All these are yours to inherit through the righteousness of faith in Jesus and His finished work at the cross. This righteousness is given to you as a gift from God, so you don’t have to earn it through good works.

For God to fulfill His promise, He has to prosper you. You can’t be the heir of the world and be in lack or in debt! Not only that, He must keep you healthy because you can’t inherit the world when you are sick and always flat on your back.

Don’t listen to people who tell you that you will only get to enjoy these blessings when you get to heaven one fine day. Why would you need riches in heaven? There, even the streets are made of pure gold (see Revelation 21:21). And why would you need healing in heaven? There is no sickness there. So you need the health and provision in the here and now!

Beloved, God wants you to be the heir of the world today. So lay hold of your rich inheritance today. Jesus paid for it with His blood. Don’t push it all to the sweet by and by!

-Joseph Prince

Jesus has given you His Peace

Jesus has given you his peace

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
John 14:27

JESUS HAS GIVEN YOU HIS PEACE


In Israel, Jews greet each other with the words “shalom, shalom.” Unlike the English word “peace,” “shalom” does not just mean peace of mind, but also wholeness for your entire being—spirit, soul, and body. It means having a sense of completeness and soundness. In other words, shalom encompasses your provision, health, and total well-being.

When Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 14:27, He did not use the English word “peace.” He would have used the Hebrew word “shalom,” saying, “Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I give to you…” Interestingly, the word “leave” here actually means “bequeath,” the way a rich man bequeaths his estate to his beneficiary.

The disciples must have been excited when they heard that Jesus was bequeathing them His shalom. They must have known that to receive His shalom was to have His health because they had never seen Him sick. To have His shalom also meant never being in lack because He was never broke. Whenever He needed money, money was there. Once, money to pay the temple tax came in the mouth of a fish (see Matthew 17:24–27)!

The disciples also understood that having Jesus’ shalom meant having His abundance because they had seen Him meeting the needs of thousands with plenty of leftovers. They saw him feeding 5,000 men (not counting the women and children) with 12 baskets full of leftovers (see Mark 6:34–44)!

Jesus wanted His disciples to know that His peace was different from the peace that the world offers. His peace would change whatever trying circumstances that beset them. Even if it were a mega-storm, it would have to bow to His peace. The Prince of Peace merely spoke, “Peace, be still!” and the winds and the sea obeyed Him (see Mark 4:39). His peace changed the mega-storm into a perfect calm.

Beloved that is the kind of peace that Jesus has bequeathed to you. Therefore, believe that His shalom which He has left with you will change all your difficult situations, bringing you from sickness, lack, and mental anguish to health, provision, and total wellness!

-Joseph Prince